Freshman quarterback Cody Bird ran for touchdowns in both overtime periods, including the 25-yard game-winning scramble, as Oaks Christian School handed first-year head coach Rudy Carlton his first win, 42-35 in double OT, at Simi Valley on Friday, Oct. 9.
“I’m happy for our guys and proud of our staff and our team,” said Carlton. “We’ve been battle-tested. That showed up. We have all the pieces to be great. It was cool to see the resolve of our team.”
Bird completed 13 of 22 passes for 243 yards and two TDs and also ran for two TDs as Oaks Christian (1-6) snapped its program-long seven-game losing streak and improved its postseason hopes.
MJ Watson ran for 114 yards and two TDs on 21 carries and Aidan Crecion caught seven passes for 197 yards and a TD for the
Lions, who will bring a 1-1 Marmonte League mark into this Friday’s trip to old foe St. Bonaventure.
Sal Villa returned from injury and ran for 136 yards and two TDs on 28 carries to lead Simi Valley (4-3, 0-2), which will host Newbury Park this Friday.
Connor Petrov completed 27 of 41 passes for 296 yards. Down 27-20 with 1:30 left and no timeouts, the senior quarterback directed a game-tying scoring drive, finding Sebastian Molina for a TD pass late in the fourth quarter.
Bird ran for consecutive touchdowns after Simi Valley took a 35-27 lead in overtime.
“Our guys kept believing and kept playing,” Carlton said.
Ventura 24, Santa Barbara 21
Jaddyn Delorenzo reeled in a 28-yard TD pass from Gavin Scarlett on fourth-and-24 on the first play of the first quarter and Josh Barton converted a second-and-25 with 2:58 left in game to allow the Cougars to run out the clock as Ventura came from behind to beat visiting Santa Barbara for the first time since 2016.
The win snapped Ventura’s six-game losing streak in the longtime Channel League series.
“We got the monkey off our back,” said Ventura defensive coordinator Noel Martinez.
Scarlett completed 15 of 21 passes for 241 yards and two TDs. Tristan Savage ran for a TD and caught a TD pass, but did not finish the game.
“We kept him out just to play it safe,” Martinez said. “I don’t really know what happened. He was cramping up.”
Defensive end Travis Jacobs had 2.0 tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks and a hurry and Landon Alexander recovered a fumble caused by Connor Paquette as Ventura held Santa Barbara to 295 yards of total offense, including just 14 rushing.
“We’ve been pretty good against the run,” Martinez said.
Ventura (6-1, 2-0) will host Westlake in a Channel showdown this Friday.
Grace 56, Del Sol 49
Riley Williams threw for four TDs — three to Charlie Martinez — and both added TD runs as the Lancers survived a wild game of runs with visiting Del Sol in a Citrus Coast League game.
“Best 1-5 team I’ve ever played,” said Grace coach Tom Coate. “Del Sol is real. … Their run game is solid.”
Quarterback Jayden Ramirez had a breakout game for the Jaguars (1-5, 0-1), running for 184 yards and three TDs and also throwing for 196 yards and two TDs.
“The quarterback ran all over us,” Coate said.
Trailing 28-7 in the second quarter, Del Sol scored 28 straight points in a 13-minute span to take a 35-28 lead on Ramirez’s 60-yard strike to Chris Cazares.
“Jayden played out of his mind,” said Del Sol coach James Nelson. “He was incredible.”
Cazares caught five passes for 135 yards and two TDs and also had an interception. Anthony Perez and Isaiah Flores had TD runs for Del Sol, which hosts Channel Islands in the Rose Cup rivalry this Friday in its first on-campus home game.
Landon LaSecla rushed for 167 yards and a TD on 25 carries for Grace. Martinez and Williams also ran for TDs. Reece Boyles had two pivotal interceptions for the Lancers (5-2, 2-0), who will visit Carpinteria this Friday.
Grace recovered to take a 56-42 lead on Williams’ 5-yard run in the fourth quarter. But Ramirez’s 66-yard TD run made it a one-score game and the Jaguars had a late drive to tie the game stopped on the Grace 22-yard line.
“No moral victories in football,” said Nelson. “Man, we in a dogfight every week.”
Calabasas 44, Camarillo 42
The defense saved Calabasas High’s 50th anniversary homecoming celebration with a game-winning play in the final minute.
Camarillo was setting up to take a potential game-winning field goal when sophomore defensive lineman Cameron Breedenlove forced a fumble recovered by senior linebacker Matthew Gonzalez on the Calabasas 12-yard line.
“I still have that anxiety,” said Calabasas coach Cary Harris. “It was a big celebration. A lot of people came out to support us. I wanted to make sure we put on a show.”
Senior Kingston Celifie made sure of that, returning kickoffs 80 and 85 yards for TDs and taking a shovel pass 57 yards for a score for first-place Calabasas (6-1), which improved to 2-0 in the Coastal 101 league.
Senior quarterback Dominik Hardy completed 10 of 13 passes for 160 yards and two TDs and ran for 132 yards and two TDs on 11 carries.
“Dominik causes problems with his feet,” said Camarillo coach Nate Anderson. “His scrambling, his movement … that was the problem.”
Jesse Belvin ran for 110 yards and a TD on 16 carries for Calabasas.
Brad Barlow completed 26 of 36 passes for 338 yards and three TDs and ran for 93 yards and two TDs for Camarillo (4-3, 1-1).
Cruz Howe caught five passes for 79 yards and two TDs and made a big fourth-down stop on defense to earn the Scorpions the ball back late.
Calabasas visits Oxnard this Friday, while Camarillo hosts Agoura.
Oxnard 27, Buena 24
Nicholas Shannon powered into the end zone through defenders for a 7-yard, game-winning TD catch from Adrian Guerra with as time expired as Oxnard won the Coastal 101 League game at home.
“Nico doing what Nico does,” said Oxnard coach Lonnie McCowan. “It was pretty dramatic.”
It was the third dramatic home victory of the season for the Yellowjackets (3-4, 1-1), who climbed out of a 24-14 hole in the fourth quarter.
“It’s stressful,” said McCowan. “We find a way to make it more interesting than we’d like it, but I’m proud of them.”
Quarterback Dylan Nicholson, a transfer from Camarillo, came off the bench to run for 104 yards and two scores and Christopher Slade had a 69-yard TD run for Buena (0-7, 0-2).
Buena missed two field goals and muffed a late punt to aid the Oxnard comeback.
“I'm proud of our kids for continuing to play hard throughout games, but we continue to make way too many mental mistakes,” Buena coach Ryan Bolland said. “We've got to eliminate those and give ourselves a chance.”
Oxnard will host Calabasas this Friday, while Buena will host Oak Park.
Royal 21, Dos Pueblos 17
The Highlanders scored TDs on three straight drives in the second half to climb out of a 14-0 hole and improve to 7-0 overall and 2-0 in the Tri-County League.
“That’s what we seem to like to do for some reason,” said Royal coach Cody MacArthur. “I have no idea why we can’t start out that way.”
Landon Shaffler’s 5-yard run gave Royal its first lead late in the fourth quarter.
“It was a good fight for sure,” MacArthur said.
Aiden Moses ran for 151 yards on five carries and Preston Murray completed 15 of 21 passes for 229 yards and two TDs to spur the Royal comeback.
“Preston had to go off,” said MacArthur.
Royal visits Fillmore this Friday in a first-place showdown.
“This is the big one,” MacArthur said.
St. Bonaventure 42, Bishop Diego 0
Tony Dargan and Antonio Spann both scored two touchdowns as the Seraphs (5-2) improved to 2-0 in Marmonte League play with a road win Saturday afternoon at Santa Barbara City College.
Dargan ran for TDs of 7 and 44 yards in the first half. Spann followed with a 60-yard TD run and 40-yard TD catch from Jaxson Carper in the second half.
Carper threw for three scores, including 40 yards to Christian Carmona and 55 yards to Jamonie Lewis.
Bishop Diego (2-5, 0-2) was shut out for the second straight league game.
The Seraphs host Oaks Christian, which eliminated them from the Division 4 playoffs a year ago, this Friday.
Westlake 42, Thousand Oaks 10
Freshman Hendrix Tucker threw for five TD as the Warriors improved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the Channel League.
Tucker completed 17 of 26 passes for 308 yards. Charles Davis caught five passes for 116 yards. Erik Green, Jackson Griffin and Drew Gamboa also had TD receptions. Chaise Morton rushed for 81 yards and a TD on six carries. Tristan Dottin had an interception.
Senior Nikos Dukakis started at quarterback for Thousand Oaks and threw a 76-yard TD pass to Miles Lewis.
Westlake will play at Ventura this Friday. Thousand Oaks (1-6, 0-2) will host Moorpark.
Moorpark 38, Rio Mesa 20
Brody Tweedy ran for three touchdowns and Blake Davison returned a fumble for a score as the Musketeers built a 35-7 lead in the third quarter along the way to their first Channel League win.
“Brody Tweedy played out of his mind,” said Moorpark coach Christian Dearborn.
Tweedy ran for 87 yards and scores of 5, 4 and 11 yards on 12 carries.
Dawson Armstrong completed 11 of 15 passes for 166 yards and a 33-yard TD pass to James Andrew.
“We did a lot of things well,” Dearborn said.
Senior defensive tackle David Dias had seven tackles, a sack and forced the fumble from which Davidson scored.
Landon Edge completed 17 of 29 passes for 241 yards, three TDs and one interception for Rio Mesa (2-5, 0-2), which will visit Santa Barbara this Friday. Neo Lewis, Justin Watson and Sebastian Macias caught TD passes for the Spartans.
Moorpark (5-2, 1-1) will play at Thousand Oaks this Friday.
Fillmore 55, Hueneme 6
Micah Harm had 113 yards rushing and three TDs on 13 carries as the visiting Flashes piled up 335 yards and eight TDs on the ground.
“They wanted to take away the deep pass,” Fillmore coach Charlie Weis said, “so we just kept running the ball.”
Efrain Arenas ran for two scores and Ivan Ambriz, Andrew Estrada and Jared Jaimes also added TD runs for Fillmore (5-2), which improved to 2-0 in Tri-County League play with its fifth straight win.
“We’re firing on all cylinders now,” said Weis.
The Flashes host Royal this Friday.
David Diaz had a 65-yard TD catch and run for Hueneme (1-6, 0-2), who will visit San Marcos on Friday.
Nordhoff 30, Channel Islands 10
Brody Dvortcsak ran for 178 yards and four TDs on 21 carries as the unbeaten Rangers prevailed without injured starting quarterback Michael Dennie.
Joe Verduzco started at quarterback for the Rangers and completed three passes for 44 yards.
Colt Craig had nine tackles, including four tackles for a loss, for the Rangers (7-0, 2-0), who hosts Santa Clara this Friday.
Zaul Pacheco had a TD run for the Raiders (1-6, 1-1), who visit Del Sol on Friday.
“We’re moving more in the right direction,” said Channel Islands coach Jeremiah Valoaga. “We just need to clean some stuff up on offense.”
San Marcos 30, Santa Paula 13
The Cardinals took an early 7-0 lead on Rene Vega’s 15-yard TD pass to Alvaro Adame, but San Marcos answered with 30 straight points to earn the Tri-County League win at Jones Field.
Junior Anthony Rodriguez threw a late 31-yard scoring strike to Isaiah Ramos for the Cardinals (3-4, 0-2), who will visit Dos Pueblos this Friday.
Carpinteria 35, Santa Clara 7
Rudy Cerna completed 10 of 18 passes for 141 yards and a 29-yard scoring strike to Jax Martinez, but the Saints dropped their third straight game to fall to 4-3 overall and 0-2 in the Citrus Coast League.
“It’s just growing pains,” said Santa Clara coach David Cortez. “We’re going to learn from this.”
The Saints will play at Nordhoff this Friday.
Joe Curley covers football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Late heroics, fantastic finishes make for memorable Week 7
